The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) has announced two significant leadership appointments in the John Sealy School of Medicine (JSSOM), reinforcing the institution’s commitment to clinical excellence, medical education, and research innovation.   Dr. Antonio Bianco, MD, PhD, has been named Senior Vice President of Health Affairs and Dean of the John Sealy School of Medicine, while continuing in his role as Chief Research Officer. Bianco, who has served as interim dean since March,...

Scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch’s Galveston National Laboratory have been awarded up to $6.4 million in funding to support an international research consortium to crack one of the toughest problems in infectious disease science: determining which immune responses protect people against Lassa fever.   This funding was awarded as part of a joint funding call by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and Wellcome, with CEPI providing the funding to UNVEIL, which...

Studies have shown that the NSD2 protein fuels cancer growth, particularly in difficult-to-treat cancers with KRAS mutations, suggesting it has potential as a therapeutic target. A new multi-institutional study led by Pawel Mazur, Ph.D., confirmed that NSD2 can be targeted with a new drug. Blocking NSD2 effectively reprogrammed the DNA structure, which reversed and prevented new cancer growth in preclinical models of KRAS-mutant lung and pancreatic cancers. The NSD2 inhibitor alone improved survival and, when combined with the KRAS inhibitor sotorasib, resulted...

Many patients with cancer develop a serious and currently incurable condition called cachexia, which is characterized by rapid weight and muscle loss and is responsible for nearly one-third of cancer-related deaths. Cachexia is driven in part by inflammation affecting the parasympathetic nervous system and liver function. Since the vagus nerve regulates the parasympathetic nervous system, Xiling Shen, Ph.D., and colleagues examined its role in cancer-associated cachexia. Preclinical models and patient blood samples showed that cancer progression...

Many patients with advanced cancer are significantly impacted by agitated delirium, but there are conflicting results on treating this condition with medication. To provide insights, David Hui, M.D., and colleagues examined the effects of different medications on treating delirium in 111 patients with advanced cancers. The researchers examined patient responses to haloperidol and lorazepam – both separately and combined – compared to a placebo, with patients receiving scheduled doses every four hours. Follow-up results show that lorazepam, alone or with...

A significant challenge in developing treatment plans for patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is deciding whether to use immune checkpoint inhibitors alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Monotherapy is effective for many patients and is associated with fewer adverse effects. However, for patients who do not respond, the crucial time lost could lead to tumor progression. Unfortunately, there is a lack of reliable data to guide clinicians in this area. A team led by Jia...

Many patients with advanced ovarian cancer treated with frontline therapies still end up with clinically undetectable amounts of cancer cells afterward, called minimal residual disease (MRD), leading to high likelihood of recurrence. However, there are no reliable tests to detect MRD, and its biological features remain understudied. Residual cancer cells escape the effects of surgery and chemotherapy and are the reason why cure rates for advanced ovarian cancer have remained low for many decades. To provide insights, researchers led by Amir Jazaeri,...

Myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) are a group of diseases in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells. The erythroid predominance (EP) subtype, marked by 50% or more erythroid cells (red blood cell precursors) in the bone marrow, has distinct biology, prognoses and drug sensitivities. To study this, researchers led by Guillermo Montalban Bravo, M.D., evaluated an MDS cohort of 371 patients, 18% of whom had EP MDS. They discovered EP MDS has unique genetic patterns...

CDK4/6 inhibitors are targeted therapies commonly used as first-line treatments for patients with hormone receptor-positive HER2-negative (HR+/HER2-) metastatic breast cancer. However, some patients stop responding to CDK4/6 inhibitors, and the mechanisms behind this acquired resistance are poorly understood. In a new study led by Khandan Keyomarsi, Ph.D., researchers discovered that the inflammatory protein IL-6 becomes elevated in these patients, which then triggers another protein – STAT3 – that helps tumors progress. This highlights the potential of monitoring...